Time and Space
by Amnestyyy
Summary: Having a crush is difficult, everyone knows that. Having a crush on someone you only know over the internet? Now that is an entirely different story. Anna, however, is determined to see it through to the end. Elsanna one-shot. Modern. No incest. AU.


**Okay. So. Yeah. This story was requested of me by someone who would prefer to remain anonymous for reasons that I should probably not disclose. I'm a good keeper of secrets, so that's all I'll say on the subject. I just hope that the result of my labour is to the requester's liking. If not, I sincerely apologize, but once I get writing, I do no longer really control where the story goes. So, here's this little** _ **thing**_ **that I did.**

 **Also, being the responsible adult I am, I feel I do need to say this: Be careful handing out personal information to strangers over the internet. There's all kinds of creeps out there, and it only takes a bit of stupidity and bad luck to get yourself into a sticky situation.**

* * *

Anna smiled contently to herself as she clicked the 'Publish' button. She was pretty sure the new chapter of her fan fiction was one of the best pieces of writing she had delivered so far. And, judging by the reviews she'd gotten on all the previous chapters, which was actually saying something, because people kept assuring her that she was an incredible author, and that her stories were the absolute best out there.

Of course, she knew they were exaggerating. She wasn't a bad author, but she wasn't the best either. After all, if she was that amazing, her stories would be more original, instead of just being rip-offs of the stuff that actually inspired her to write. But no one seemed to mind, so she wasn't going to complain about it either.

She was lazily scrolling over her Facebook newsfeed before going to bed, and the sound of her e-mail notification surprised her. A quick check revealed that she already had a new review on her just-published chapter. Quickly and eagerly opening it, she was only half-surprised when it was from the user named _Snowflake21_.

She was familiar with the name, of course. _Snowflake21_ had actually left reviews on the previous chapters of her story – all twelve of them – and had always been kind and supportive, occasionally offering some constructive feedback to improve her story even further, or pointing out small inconsistencies. Overall, however, she was very generous with her praises.

This review was no different, Snowflake having written a long paragraph about how she adored the characters in Anna's story, and how she never failed to keep them in-character, and how adorable their interactions were. Anna read the entire review with a smile on her face, finding herself still grinning at the screen when she finished reading.

While she normally didn't take the trouble of replying to each and every review, and only replied to those that contained actual questions, Anna figured she should send a quick message to _Snowflake21_ , since she had been reviewing her work so diligently and consistently.

Her fingers hovered over her keyboard for a moment as she took her lower lip between her teeth, trying to think of a good message to send to Snowflake. Eventually, she decided on short-and-sweet, thanking her, or him of course, for their many reviews and praise, as well as letting them know that she appreciated the feedback.

She was about to shut down her laptop and go to bed when she received another e-mail notification. Expecting another review, Anna already felt herself feeling giddy as she navigated her browser. That feeling only grew, oddly enough, when she saw that _Snowflake21_ had responded to her private message.

She hadn't necessarily expected a response, really. Hadn't even considered it, to be honest. Though, in hindsight, it only made sense that she would, because Snowflake had never shied away from engaging in cyber-conversation.

 _Hey Strawberry! I was surprised (And happy!) to see you responding to my review! But you really needn't thank me for complimenting your work: you totally deserve everything I've said and more! Keep up the good work, please? And if you ever need anyone to bounce some ideas off, know that I'll be right here, willing and (hopefully) able to help out! – Snowflake21_

Anna sat there for a moment, torn between the desire to go to bed and her wish to respond to Snowflake straight away. Eventually, she figured that it wouldn't do any harm if she just wrote out a quick message. She actually _did_ have a little something that she could use some advice on, after all, and who better to ask for advice than one of her most loyal readers? Judging by the reviews, Snowflake knew her characters almost as well as Anna did herself, so she might be just what she needed.

Typing the message out turned to be quick and easy, but as she sent it away, she found herself wanting to stay up for just a little while longer, waiting to see if Snowflake would respond immediately again. Knowing she'd have to get up early tomorrow, she gave herself a fifteen-minute extension on going to bed. If Snowflake hadn't responded by then, she'd go to bed.

Luckily for her – or maybe unluckily, depending on your viewpoint – Snowflake responded rapidly again, only 4 minutes having passed between sending her message and receiving her reply. By the time Anna eventually _did_ go to bed, it was four in the morning, and she just knew she would regret it in the morning.

But right now it was totally worth it.

* * *

Things were getting slightly out of hand. Anna was objective enough to realize that, but not quite so objective as to be determined to change it. She and Snowflake had been messaging each other for a few weeks now, and they had grown into the habit of sending each other at least twenty messages a day of the private messaging function.

It wasn't the most functional way of communication, true, but they made it work. Every day, after school, Anna rushed home and locked herself away in her bedroom, claiming to be working on homework, while, in reality she was working on her fanfictions and talking to Snowflake.

Of course, she also did her _actual_ homework, but that was usually around the time she knew Snowflake wouldn't be responding anyway. Their messages had started out as discussions about Anna's stories, then slowly turned toward discussions about the fandom as a whole, and then to other fandoms. And, from there, they had strayed off in any and all directions, ranging from schoolwork to family and friends to Snowflake's particular dislike of coffee and their mutual love for chocolate.

Anna was actually starting to feel like she knew Snowflake. Even though she still didn't know their name, or even their gender or actual age. It was all a bit confusing, and sometimes Anna was a little daunted by how familiar and easy it was to be messaging with her new best friend.

This Friday afternoon, when she sat down at her laptop, however, she found the fanfiction sites messaging function to be… broken. But hey, no big deal. She'd just do her homework now, and message Snowflake later. Nope, no biggie.

Except it _was_ a biggie when, four hours later, the entire fanfiction site seemed to be down or broken or malfunctioning. And Anna knew she was being a little silly, but she had _really_ been looking forward to continue the discussion she and Snowflake had going, and when the site started displaying an error message, saying they weren't sure how long it would take for the issues to be resolved, Anna could've thrown her laptop out of her bedroom window.

And yes, she knew she was being silly. It was no biggie, after all. Right?

Except it was a biggie, and Anna's parents spent the entire weekend trying to figure out why their daughter was so downtrodden and grumpy all of a sudden. It was, after all, a decidedly un-Anna state of being. They were quite baffled when, Sunday late afternoon, her mood suddenly bounced back to normal. Little did they know.

The issues had finally been fixed, and Anna immediately responded to Snowflake's last message. She was only marginally surprised when she immediately got a message back.

 _Heya! Yeah, I was starting to think they'd never fix whatever error was going on! I hope you managed to get some work done without my expert advice (just joking, I'm sure you were fine without me!) I still disagree on your taste in chocolate, though. Pure is too bitter, and milk is infinitely better! – Snowflake_

Anna smiled to herself as she typed out her response, all the moodiness from the past two days forgotten. _Actually, I haven't been able to make myself very useful in the writing department. I am still waiting for your thoughts on that scene we discussed? Also, milk is too sweet, and dark is the absolute pinnacle of chocolate. Also, I gotta say, I kinda really missed you this weekend! D: I hope this stupid site doesn't mess with us like that again. I need my daily Snowflake-fix! :p_

Anna debated about removing the last part of her message. Did it sound too needy? It probably sounded too needy. Still, it was true, though. And it really couldn't hurt to make sure Snowflake knew that Anna appreciated them, right? Besides, it was already too late now, the message had already been sent.

And, to Anna's incredible dismay, she did not immediately get a response, like she was used to. Had she gone too far? Maybe she'd freaked Snowflake out. She did have a habit of being, maybe, a little too forward, at times. She should just send another message, letting Snowflake know that it had been a joke. Yeah, she'd do that.

After dinner.

Which was a bad decision, because now the redhead spent her entire dinner stewing over whether or not she'd already gotten a message back from Snowflake. She was pretty sure that, if Snowflake hadn't responded yet when she came back, she'd done some serious damage to whatever it was they had been building over the past few weeks…

She'd hardly swallowed her last bite when she asked to be excused from the dining table, claiming to have an outrageous amount of homework waiting for her in her room. Her parents, valuing her education above all else, were quick to allow her flight upstairs.

She was distraught to find that she still didn't have a response from Snowflake. Surely, even if she sent an apologetic message now, it would be too late to fix things? Still, over time, Snowflake had started to mean too much for her to not even try… So she diligently set about writing a message, explaining that her last message might have given off the wrong impression.

She was finished typing it and was just trying to rephrase a few sentences to make them sound less… clingy or creepy, when her laptop gave her an e-mail notification. She was surprised – and delighted, relieved and ecstatic – to see that Snowflake had sent her a new message, and couldn't open it quickly enough.

 _Ahw, poor Strawberry, missing out on your Snowflake fix for so long! :( If you want, I guess we could add each other on FB (You have FB right? Don't tell me you don't have FB?!) I've been thinking about it for a while, and this whole PMing thing is pretty clumsy, don't you think? I of course totally understand if you'd rather not add me… Being a stranger and all that. Anyway, it's up to you. If you want to find me, look for Elsa Frost and pick the profile with the brightest hair ;) – Snowflake (PS sorry for the late reply, my parents got on my case for not having practiced my music today…)_

Anna was so relieved that she couldn't help but laugh out loud. It took her a few minutes to actually snap out of her fit of giggles, after which she quickly pulled Facebook up and logged in. She didn't really use it all that often, mostly just when she was _terribly_ bored, or whenever she had a question for someone whom she couldn't reach in any other way.

Quickly looking up Elsa Frost revealed only two hits. And only one of them had stunning, platinum blonde hair. So yeah, that had to be the one. Clicking on her profile picture to enlarge it immediately stole Anna's breath away. _Snowflake21_ was, as the name had suggested, a girl. But not just any girl. No. She was a _Goddess_.

Anna stared at the picture several minutes, taking in the blonde hair in a single braid, the strikingly blue eyes, the sharp and high cheekbones, the light dusting of freckles spread across her nose and cheeks, the subtle blush on her pale skin, and the beautiful lips stretched in a playful grin that revealed pearly white teeth that could feature in a dentist brochure.

She quickly sent out the friend request, making sure to specify that she was Strawberry18, in case she thought there was some stranger adding her out of the blue. With that done, she went back to ogling the profile picture, secure in the knowledge she couldn't actually be confronted about it, because no one knew it was happening.

Her smile only grew wider when she noticed someone had started a chat with her. Quickly opening the message box, she was not surprised to find Elsa's name there.

Elsa: So, Anna, huh?

Anna: Yep. That's me.

Elsa: I like it! ;)

Anna: I like Elsa better, though.

Anna was glad to discover that their interactions in real-time went equally as smooth at it had gone through the clunky messaging system before, if not more so. The two of them really seemed to hit it off, and Anna couldn't deny that she was quite glad to be able to put a face to the mysterious Snowflake now.

When, four hours later, Elsa reluctantly told her she'd have to go for tonight, but would be talking to her again tomorrow, and that she was glad to have (sort of) met Anna.

* * *

Several more weeks passed after that, with Elsa and Anna having _very_ regular conversations over Facebook. Meaning they never missed a day, and spent at least two hours of every day simply chatting with each other about all sorts of things, ranging from deep philosophical discussions to the most banal chatter.

And Anna was entirely aware of the massive, gigantic, humongous crush she was forming. It was hard not to when someone looked like Elsa, and was as easy to interact with as she had been so far. Really, Anna was not surprised by it, although it did peeve her a little. She had, after all, no idea how Elsa thought about her, and having a conversation about such matters over the internet didn't really appeal to her. Besides, for all she knew, Elsa might live in some far-off country on the other side of the world.

Okay, that wasn't the case, because they lived in the same time-zone, at least. She had tried to subtly ask where the blonde lived, but she had either not noticed, or intentionally skipped over it. Anna couldn't know for certain.

The information was also not on her profile, which was only slightly aggravating. What she _did_ find, though, were several albums filled with pictures of the blonde – none of which gave her a clue as to her location, but all of which were very, very interesting to look at.

Especially the album of a summer holiday the past year piqued the redhead's interest. If anyone were to ask, she would whole-heartedly deny having spent more than the appropriate amount of time staring at pictures of the blonde in her swimsuit. Not that she actually knew what the 'appropriate' amount of time for friends to stare at each other was, but that wasn't really relevant.

She did _not_ spend that much time perusing Elsa's photos. Except that she totally did, and couldn't even bring herself to regret it.

Then again, she knew the blonde had gone through her photos as well, occasionally remarking on little bits about her life that she hadn't told her about, such as her passion for baking, which was well-represented in a photo album filled with pictures of her in her apron, kitchen mittens on her hands as she proudly showed off her culinary arts. Or was shoving her face into it.

When the summer holiday started again, they spent _even more_ time chatting to each other, sometimes spending hours behind their computer, simply amusing one another with anecdotes of their lives or sharing their opinions on books, movies, and fanfictions. Elsa continued to be a valuable asset for Anna's writing.

Elsa: Bad news. :(

Anna: Don't tell me? D:

Elsa: Going away for three weeks. Probably no internet.

Anna: NOOOOOOO! T_T

Elsa: Going to miss you too, Strawberry ;(

Elsa: We'll be fine, though. We'll just pick up where we left off when I get back! :)

Elsa: Or I could give you my number and we could text, maybe?

Anna: Would you?

Elsa: Sure. We've been chatting for months now. What harm can texting do? :)

Surely enough, Elsa sent her a number, and Anna quickly saved her in her contacts under Elsa 3. She spent almost fifteen minutes thinking on a good opening message, before eventually settling on a simple 'hi.'

The response was almost instantaneous. _Suddenly getting shy, Strawberry? That's not like you ;)_

* * *

It did not come as a surprise to Anna that they spent the majority of the summer holiday texting one another. Most of the time, however, she was working up the courage to ask if she could, maybe, at some point, possibly, call Elsa. Anna was dying to meet her in the flesh, but knowing that was unlikely, the next best thing was to at least hear her voice.

Finally, halfway during the third week of the blonde's absence from her computer, Anna worked up the courage to ask the simple question. She almost dropped her phone down the stairs when it suddenly started ringing, Elsa's name splayed out across her screen.

Silly thing was, she was even doubting whether she should answer. That lasted, of course, only a few seconds.

"Hey," she muttered feebly.

A small hum was the response from the other end of the line. "I was sort of wondering what your voice would sound like," Elsa's smooth voice spoke easily. "It really suits you. You have a very beautiful voice."

"You are beautifuller," Anna blabbed, biting her lower lip and groaning audibly. "I meant, you're more beautiful. I mean, no, your voice is more beautiful. Not that you're not beautiful, because you are but- Yeah, I'm going to shut up now."

Elsa's hearty laugh resounded over the phone, and Anna could have sworn her breath hitched at the beautiful sound. "Please don't. I'm finding your rambling quite endearing. I hadn't thought you to be so easily flustered."

"Yeah, that's only because typing allows me to filter my thoughts," Anna groaned wistfully. "I'm actually pretty awkward in person."

"Well, that makes two of us," Elsa replied easily.

"No way you're awkward," Anna huffed.

"Maybe not awkward, really. More like, irrationally shy."

"Nope," Anna declared. "I don't believe it."

Their conversation didn't last more than a few minutes, both of them ending with how they should probably talk like this more often. If for no other reason, then at least because it was easier. Anna was mostly just happy that Elsa promised they'd do this more often. The reason, after all, really didn't matter that much.

* * *

It had been almost half a year of contact between her and Elsa when Anna finally decided that she could take it no more. Her crush was getting wildly out of hand, had been for quite a while, and she was slowly going mad because of not knowing whether her feelings were returned. At times, she thought Elsa was actually flirting with her over the phone or through chat, but she could never be quite sure.

She wanted to tell the blonde how she felt. She had decided that the trepidation she felt didn't outweigh her sanity, which she would surely be losing if things went on like this much longer. So, during one of their longer phone calls, Anna lazily spread out across her bed, she decided she should finally do something.

She also decided, however, that, if at all possible, she'd like to meet Elsa first. Even if it was only once. She _had_ to try.

"Hey, Elsa? Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure, Strawberry," Elsa replied distractedly, working on some of her homework now that school had started again.

"Where do you live?" Anna blurted out, not bothering to consider beating around the bush or phrasing her question more abstractly.

It was silent for a moment, and Anna didn't dare releasing her breath. "I live in Arendelle," the blonde answered eventually, a lot of strange noises coming from her side of the phone call, followed by a screech. "No, Olaf! Get out of my hair!" Elsa suddenly yelled, Anna moving the phone away from her ear in shock. "Sorry about that, Anna. Olaf thought it was fun to climb in my braid. Anyway, I live in Arendelle… You?"

Anna chuckled lightly. "Funny coincidence. I live in Arendelle too."

She could _hear_ Elsa's sharp intake of breath. "Really? Where?"

"A small town called Weselton," Anna replied, eagerly anticipating Elsa's reply.

"I see. I live in Corona, it's pretty close, you've probably heard of it."

Anna rolled her eyes. Corona was only like, three towns over. It would take her about forty-five minutes by buss. "Yeah, I know it. I go shopping there with my mother sometimes," she smiled. All this time, Elsa had been _so_ close.

"Do you think-" Elsa started.

"Should we-" Anna started at the same time.

They laughed for a moment, before Elsa spurred Anna to finish her sentence. Anna spluttered for a moment, insisting Elsa go first, but the blonde wouldn't budge, so she resigned herself to her fate.

"I was just thinking that… y'know, maybe it'd be okay if we… met up sometime?"

Elsa was silent for a _long_ time, before she finally hummed. "Do you know the little coffee shop near the large mall? They have terrific hot chocolate there."

Coincidentally, Anna _did_ know the place. "Yeah, I've been there once or twice," she admitted, suddenly feeling ridiculously shy.

"So… Do you have something to do next Saturday?"

* * *

Getting onto the buss to Corona was simple. Finding the little coffee shop wasn't that hard too. But now here Anna was, standing at the corner of the block, gathering the courage to walk up to Elsa. The blonde was already seated in one of the chairs outside, having chosen a spot in the shade and facing away from the redhead.

But Anna was having a mini-meltdown, considering to just hop on the next bus back to Weselton and forget about this entirely ridiculous idea. Except she couldn't, because she had totally promised herself she would tell Elsa how she felt about her.

Anna was a lot of things. But she wasn't a wimp, and she wasn't a quitter.

Steeling her resolve, she took the first step forward, finding that every step after that became consecutively easier. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of Elsa, shy smile gracing her features. "Is this seat taken?" she asked with a teasing lilt to her voice.

Elsa looked up at her, smile growing a little wider. "It is now," she replied, motioning for Anna to sit.

They both ordered a hot chocolate – as if there was any other possibility – before lapsing into a slightly awkward silence.

When their order had been delivered, Anna chuckled softly. "We've been talking for months now, and here we are, being too shy to even acknowledge each other."

Elsa also smiled. "In my defense, I warned you about my irrational shyness. I was actually counting on your babbling to get us through this."

"Well, I suppose I can arrange that," Anna smiled, firing off in a long rant about one of her teachers, before switching direction and talking about a classmate of her who wanted a reindeer as a pet. Soon enough, Elsa started to become more involved in the conversation as well.

Everything went smoothly, until Anna suddenly realized that she still had to tell Elsa about her feelings. Who knows when, if ever, they'd see each other again. As the waiter placed their third order of hot chocolate (hey, it was really good, okay? Don't judge…) in front of them, that realization had started Anna to fiddle with the sleeves of her jacket and the coaster on the table.

Elsa, of course, immediately noticed. "Anna, do I make you uncomfortable?" she suddenly asked, causing Anna to jump in her seat.

"No! Why would you ask that?"

"Well, you look uncomfortable…" the blonde shrugged. "You can leave whenever you want, you know that, right?"

"But I don't want to leave!" Anna answered empathically.

"Then what is it?"

Anna took a deep breath, figuring that now was as good a moment as any. "I was just… trying to figure out how to… Um… how to tell you…"

"Tell me what, Strawberry?" Elsa asked, making the nickname sound almost flirtatious.

"I really like you," Anna said, feeling a little lame for not wording her thoughts better.

"I really like you too," Elsa responded with a soft smile.

"No," Anna interjected. "I mean _like_ you. Like, like-like."

Elsa raised a single eyebrow, and Anna couldn't really blame her. She was being pretty incoherent, after all.

"What I'm trying to say is… I've had a pretty massive crush on you for… quite a while now."

Elsa casually leaned back in her chair, studying Anna for a moment. "I suspected as much," she responded eventually, sly grin playing along her lips.

"You did?"

"Your rambling isn't particularly subtle most of the time, Strawberry."

"Right," Anna replied dumbly, punctuating it with a sip from her drink.

"For what it's worth," Elsa said, teasing glint in her eyes. "I like-like you a lot too. And I think we should definitely make a habit out of meeting each other. As often as possible."

And to that, Anna could, of course, only heartily agree.

* * *

 **Okay, so maybe this turned out to be a little longer than usual. It's a thing. It happens. No biggie. Honestly, I just hope that my anonymous requester is satisfied with what I've delivered. If not, I'm really sorry, but this is the way the story wanted to be written, and I had absolutely no control over that.**

 **We all know Anna and Elsa do what they want anyway, right?**


End file.
